(1) Field of Invention
This invention relates to foot pedals for bass drums and, more specifically, to a beater bracket that is designed to accelerate a beater into the bass drum with greater force and velocity.
(2) Description of Related Art
Foot pedals have long been used for striking bass drums, since the use of a foot pedal frees both of the drummer's hands for use with snare drums, cymbals or other devices. However, most prior art bass drum pedals have been constructed with a fixed drive action. This means that the drummer must vary the force with which the beater impacts the drum head by varying the force applied by the drummer's foot. Unfortunately, some drummers have a “heavier foot” than others and, hence, must constantly guard against causing the beater to strike the drum head too vigorously, while other drummers have a very “light foot” and, consequently, must exert conscious effort to effect a desired beater impact. Some attempts have been made to provide adjustable drive action. However, the adjustable drive action foot pedals of the prior art have been complex, expensive to produce and difficult to adjust and maintain.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,592 (hereinafter referred to as the '592 patent) was devised to address several of the deficiencies listed above. As shown in FIG. 1, the '592 patent shows a bass drum foot pedal 01 having a variable drive lever linkage 02 with variable arc ratios connecting the foot pedal 03 to the beater bracket 04. The '592 patent was a significant improvement over the prior art in that the variable drive lever linkage 02 is adjustable to vary the impact force and strike point of the beater 05.
While the '592 patent describes a very desirable product that provides for a wide range of adjustability of optimizing performance, the beater bracket 04, in of itself, does not optimize impact force. The beater bracket 04 includes a long axis 06 with a mounting surface 07 in parallel alignment with the long axis 07. A clamp means 08 is used to attach the shaft 09 of the beater 05 to the mounting surface 07 of the beater bracket 04. Because the mounting surface 07 is in parallel alignment with the long axis 07, the shaft 09 extends perpendicular to the exterior surface 07 and long axis 06. This configuration, in of itself, does not optimize the impact force of the beater 05.
Thus, a continuing need exists for a redesigned beater bracket that optimizes the impact force of a beater.